During the lean season in June and August, more than 21 million people across West Africa "will struggle to feed themselves", she explained, adding Gambia and Benin to the list of countries in need.

"An additional 20 million people could struggle to feed themselves due to the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in the next six months, doubling the number of food-insecure to 43 million in this region", the WFP official added.

Highest forced displacement in Africa

Highlighting people's vulnerabilities, Babar Baloch from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), described West and central Africa as "one of largest displacement situations in Africa…we are talking about 5.6 million internally displaced people, more than 1.3 million refugees and 1.6 million stateless."

The UN refugee agency has repeatedly called for greater support for increasing numbers of people forced to flee for their lives amid renewed conflict in West Africa's turbulent Sahel and Lake Chad region.

On Monday, the agency condemned attacks on 2 May on Malian refugees in Burkina Faso – "reportedly by the country's security forces", in Mentao refugee camp in which at least 32 people were injured.